Hem Raj

About Artist

The first thing you notice about Hem Raj’s paintings titled “Metamorphosing. To Devotion’ is their sheer size. Added to the mammoth look, the paintings are mounted on some exquisite hand-crafted (by the artist himself...

The first thing you notice about Hem Raj’s paintings titled “Metamorphosing. To Devotion’ is their sheer size. Added to the mammoth look, the paintings are mounted on some exquisite hand-crafted (by the artist himself) wooden frames interspersed with rusty iron and brass patches and chains as are found on some ancient doors. “The frame is the gateway to the sanctum – sanctorum of the divine,” he says.

The paintings are devotional, like the bhakti ras found in poetry and music. The style is reminiscent of Sufism, the same abandon and gaiety in reference to the divine who is the lover and the teacher, the giver and the keeper. Simplicity abounds, again in keeping with the Sufi tradition and tribal art which “the within himself’. Colours are kept to the bare minimum, subdued shades – monochromatic colours – where different shades of the same colour have been used to the maximum effort. No stark colours for Hem Raj, which is where he perhaps differs from the tribal artists who have a penchant for using bright shades. Indigo blues, olive greens, dusty pinks, murky browns, rusty oranges, pale yellows – Hem Raj is indeed different from them. Like Sufism, again Hem Raj is concerned only with singing praises of the divine. Unlike a few of his contemporaries who are keen to project contemporary life, the artist has restricted himself to religious themes because according to him this is perhaps the best way to try and be with god while living in a society which is “full of false pride, faithlessness and strife”.

Hem Raj believes an artist is like a flute – it doesn’t pipe of its own. The player is the one who creates the magic of music. Likewise, he simply becomes a medium. “I am as animate or inanimate as my canvas, brush or colours are. The forms and shapes start talking place the moment I pick up a brush, the painting begins from within me and towards the climax I find myself losing my own individuality and mingling with the beauty that has flown out of me. That is the ultimate bliss for me. I feel as if I’ve successfully managed to give birth to these forms and in return they are grateful to me for bringing them alive,” – the art and the artist then become one and the same!

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BIODATA

About Artist

The first thing you notice about Hem Raj’s paintings titled “Metamorphosing. To Devotion’ is their sheer size. Added to the mammoth look, the paintings are mounted on some exquisite hand-crafted (by the artist himself) wooden frames interspersed with rusty iron and brass patches and chains as are found on some ancient doors. “The frame is the gateway to the sanctum – sanctorum of the divine,” he says.

The paintings are devotional, like the bhakti ras found in poetry and music. The style is reminiscent of Sufism, the same abandon and gaiety in reference to the divine who is the lover and the teacher, the giver and the keeper. Simplicity abounds, again in keeping with the Sufi tradition and tribal art which “the within himself’. Colours are kept to the bare minimum, subdued shades – monochromatic colours – where different shades of the same colour have been used to the maximum effort. No stark colours for Hem Raj, which is where he perhaps differs from the tribal artists who have a penchant for using bright shades. Indigo blues, olive greens, dusty pinks, murky browns, rusty oranges, pale yellows – Hem Raj is indeed different from them. Like Sufism, again Hem Raj is concerned only with singing praises of the divine. Unlike a few of his contemporaries who are keen to project contemporary life, the artist has restricted himself to religious themes because according to him this is perhaps the best way to try and be with god while living in a society which is “full of false pride, faithlessness and strife”.

Hem Raj believes an artist is like a flute – it doesn’t pipe of its own. The player is the one who creates the magic of music. Likewise, he simply becomes a medium. “I am as animate or inanimate as my canvas, brush or colours are. The forms and shapes start talking place the moment I pick up a brush, the painting begins from within me and towards the climax I find myself losing my own individuality and mingling with the beauty that has flown out of me. That is the ultimate bliss for me. I feel as if I’ve successfully managed to give birth to these forms and in return they are grateful to me for bringing them alive,” – the art and the artist then become one and the same!